The Overlord of Puluo

Qiu Luoye’s attitude did not surprise Chu Shaoqiang.

”Qiu Luoye, I just told you. I have heard your name in the Inner Provinces, and I have seen your iron deed. Do you not believe me?”

”So what if you did?”

”Same time three days from now, I will come find you again. I will also introduce you to two friends. You can give me your answer then.”

Chu Shaoqiang turned to leave, but Qiu Luoye laughed. ”You still want to come back? I told you to get lost, and you won’t listen? Then there’s no need to wait three days. ”Today’s a perfectly good day. We can get your funeral over with before the New Year and save ourselves the bad luck of holding it in the first lunar month!”

As soon as Qiu Luoye finished talking, he strode toward him at an unhurried pace.

Chu Shaoqiang flicked his sleeve, sending a rain of arrows shooting toward Qiu Luoye.

Qiu Luoye didn’t dodge or hide. He simply let the arrows strike him and waited until Chu Shaoqiang had used them all up. Then he shook his body, sending every arrow stuck in him clattering to the ground.

”What a strong and fierce Physique Cultivator.” Chu Shaoqiang was inwardly startled. He pulled a saber, a spear, and a pair of longswords from beneath his coat. The weapons surrounded Qiu Luoye, thrusting, slashing, and hacking at him from every direction.

Qiu Luoye caught every weapon with his bare hands and snapped them one by one as he continued stomping forward.

Ordinary weapons were clearly useless against Qiu Luoye. Chu Shaoqiang had to go with some special methods. His coat suddenly fluttered, and a cloud of lime powder burst toward Qiu Luoye.

Chu Shaoqiang had once used this very trick to gravely injure Greenwater Beggar.

Qiu Luoye swung his long trunk and blew out a fierce gust of wind, sending the lime powder straight back into Chu Shaoqiang’s face. It nearly got into his eyes.

Chu Shaoqiang was shocked as he had not expected Qiu Luoye to be on guard. He thought, Did he know there’s something unusual about the powder? Did Greenwater Beggar tell him? Were the two of them in contact?

Actually, Chu Shaoqiang was overthinking it. Qiu Luoye had not prepared for the lime powder at all. He had spent years making his way through the jianghu and had seen plenty of dirty tricks like throwing lime powder or flinging sand into someone’s eyes. He was so used to dealing with such tricks.

Qiu Luoye grinned. ”You filthy bastard. Is that all you have got?”

Chu Shaoqiang changed tactics. He secretly activated a Dream Cultivator enchanted artifact, intending to pull Qiu Luoye into a dream.

Qiu Luoye felt his eyelids growing heavy, and his steps slowed slightly. Chu Shaoqiang saw his chance and was about to unleash a killing move when Qiu Luoye suddenly let out a deafening trumpet sound.

The blast sent a sharp pain through Chu Shaoqiang’s chest and jolted Qiu Luoye awake at the same time.

In the Inner Provinces, the stories about Qiu Luoye all painted him as nothing more than a reckless brute. This was a misconception. Qiu Luoye cultivated in the New Land and had reached level two of the Cloudborne Layer by relying on the aberrant creatures in his territory. Anyone capable of keeping so many aberrant creatures under control for so many years naturally had his own cunning and unique methods.

Qiu Luoye might fall for this trick once, but he would never make the same mistake twice. When he fought Li Qi, the Dream Cultivator enchanted artifact had caught him off guard. After that, he became wary of Dream Cultivators and even came up with a method specifically to counter them.

He had practiced making that trumpet sound countless times. It could repel attacks from Dream Cultivators and was equally effective against Mentalism Cultivators, Literary Cultivators, Moralism Cultivators, and Sound Cultivators.

Chu Shaoqiang reached for another enchanted artifact, but Qiu Luoye’s fist was already coming at him.

Bang!

Chu Shaoqiang flung up both arms to block. The armor on them burst apart with a crack, and the next moment he was flying backward through the air. He smashed straight through several trees before finally coming to a stop.

He had underestimated Qiu Luoye.

When Chu Shaoqiang fought Greenwater Beggar, he had gone in thoroughly prepared and defeated him by seizing the initiative from the very first move. This time, he had prepared just as carefully and had taken the initiative again and again, yet fighting Qiu Luoye turned out to be very difficult.

Qiu Luoye’s cultivation level was below Greenwater Beggar’s, and Physique Cultivators were far more common than Disease Cultivators. Yet the different Daoist paths countered and complemented one another in ways that were sometimes impossible to predict. It was rare to see someone push the advantages of a Physique Cultivation path to such a level.

Chu Shaoqiang no longer wanted to keep fighting. He had realized that his entire approach to this battle had been wrong from the start. Besides, there was no need for him to fight Qiu Luoye to the death today as the real fight would happen in three days.

Chu Shaoqiang pulled a water pipe from his waist, took a bubbling puff, and blew out a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke quickly spread around him until his entire figure disappeared from sight.

It was an enchanted artifact used by Smoking Cultivators. The smoke could obscure an opponent’s vision and was highly poisonous.

Whoosh!

Qiu Luoye sucked in through his long trunk, inhaling the entire cloud of smoke into his trunk. A moment later, smoke streamed out of his ears. It only obscured his vision for a bit. As for the poison, he wasn’t scared at all.

”Now that’s got some kick!” Qiu Luoye exclaimed and kicked straight at Chu Shaoqiang.

Crash!

Chu Shaoqiang fell apart.

A clone? Qiu Luoye thought. He looked around, but the real Chu Shaoqiang had already vanished without a trace.

Qiu Luoye cursed, ”You bastard! You better hope I never see you again! If you really have the guts to come back in three days, I will make sure there’s nothing left for the Inner Provinces to bury!”

***

The next evening, Li Banfeng stepped out of the construction site.

Work had gone on as usual during the day while Li Banfeng stayed hidden inside the Pocket Dwelling. That gave the old man plenty of time to observe the construction, but even after watching for an entire day, he still could not make sense of the Outer Provinces Artificer Cultivator’s abilities.

Once night fell and the workers had gone home, Li Banfeng moved to another spot and let the Pocket Dwelling continue observing. He watched until late into the night before finally giving him an answer.

”I believe I have gained some insight, but it is difficult to put into words.”

Li Banfeng was taken aback. ”It’s that profound?”

Beside him, the Glove wagged an index finger. ”Our old man is an educated fellow. When he doesn’t understand something, he says it’s difficult to put into words. He talks like he speaks some foreign language.”

Clatter!

The old Teapot toppled off the coffee table, and the Glove darted aside.

The Teapot shouted, ”Big Bro! Don’t throw me! I am fragile! Throw something else!”

Bottles and jars went flying all over the room. The Glove ducked and dodged between them, laughing at the top of his lungs. ”Can’t hit me, old man! Getting mad yet?”

Smack!

A broom smacked right on the Glove and the Glove stopped moving or making any sounds.

The Pocket Dwelling trembled and the Gramophone began singing in a slow operatic rhythm. ”Old sir, calm your temper. These Artificer Cultivator abilities are what allow the Outer Provinces to thrive. How could their secrets be so easily unraveled? Husband dear, take the old man back tomorrow and let him watch how they work again. After a few more looks, he should be able to figure something out.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. The construction site closes for the holiday tomorrow.”

”New Year’s Eve?” The Gramophone froze for a moment, then cried, ”Heyaaaaaa! Husband dear! The New Year is almost here, and we haven’t even prepared any paper-cut decorations or couplets for the house!”

”No rush. I will get everything ready tomorrow.”

***

On New Year’s Eve, Ma Wu hosted a banquet in the residence. He Yuxiu, Lu Chunying, Chu Huaiyuan, and the others all came together for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Once the food and drinks were served, He Yuxiu asked, ”Why isn’t Old Qi here yet?”

Ma Wu said, ”Old Qi said not to wait for him. He has something to take care of, and won’t be back until after midnight.”

He Yuxiu frowned. ”It’s rare enough for the few of us to get together for a New Year’s Eve dinner, and Old Qi still has to wait until after midnight. Right now we are getting along well enough, but if we ever fall out, who knows how badly we will fight. It will be hard for us to sit down for a meal together again.”

Xiao Yeci said, ”Big Sis Yuxiu, we are all family. How could we ever end up fighting?”

He Yuxiu smiled. ”Oh, sister, the founding members of the four great families were once harmonious too, and didn’t they end up fighting to the bitter end?”

Lu Chunying shook her head. ”I listen to Big Bro Qi. If Big Bro Qi says the word, there’s no grudge I can’t let go of.”

Miss Chu lowered her head and said, ”I also listen to Big Bro Qi. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do it. I will do everything he says.”

He Yuxiu pinched Miss Chu’s cheek and laughed. ”Girl, when you talk like that, I can hardly believe it’s you!”

Miss Chu blushed and said, ”Auntie Yuxiu, I was immature before and caused you a lot of trouble.”

”Don’t call me Auntie Yuxiu. Call me Big Sis Yuxiu. They all call me Big Sis Yuxiu.”

”I can’t. That would break the rules.”

”Oh, please. The moment you mention rules, I want to laugh. When have you ever followed the rules, you little brat?”

Ma Wu looked at everyone and sighed inwardly.

He Yuxiu actually wasn’t wrong. Given how the great families had behaved in the past, they would eventually start fighting sooner or later. But if Old Qi was around, then things might change. But where exactly had Old Qi gone off to?

***

Li Banfeng carried two jars of liquor up the mountain to spend the New Year’s with Qiu Luoye.

After staying so long in the New Land, Qiu Luoye had long lost any sense of the New Year. Now that Qiu Luoye had become a land deity of the Proper Land, it was a good chance for them to have a New Year’s Eve dinner together and experience life in the Proper Land.

Li Banfeng had celebrated his previous New Year in Puluo Province as well. That time, it had been at the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs with just him and Cedric, braving the wind and snow as they dealt with pest problems all around.

This year was different. Qiu Luoye had quite a few Contract Guardian Spirits around him now. Li Banfeng decided that he would drink at Qiu Luoye’s place before midnight, then head over to Old Wu’s for another round after midnight.

He would eat and drink to his heart’s content and spend the rest of the night fooling around with his wife. This was just the way to celebrate New Year.

However, when he arrived at Qiu Luoye’s house, there was no one there.

No.. this isn’t right... We agreed to celebrate the new year together. Where did that elephant go? Li Banfeng thought. He searched around up on the mountain, but did not find Qiu Luoye. He did, however, find the tiger.

”Where’s Big Bro Qiu?” Li Banfeng asked.

The tiger smiled. ”It’s New Year today, and Master Qiu was in good spirits. He had a couple more drinks over by the cave and got drunk. He said he wanted to sleep, and we didn’t dare disturb him, so we let him sleep in the mountain for now. He also specifically told us to let you know he couldn’t drink today, but he will hang out with you tomorrow!”

”I see...” Li Banfeng turned and left.

When the tiger saw that Li Banfeng had gone far, it ran to the hillside to pick medicinal herbs. It had just picked two when Li Banfeng came back. ”You big cat, how dare you lie to me?”

The tiger was startled. ”Master Qi, why have you come back?”

”Where exactly has Brother Qiu gone?”

”I told you. Master Qiu got drunk.”

”Nonsense! What kind of liquor could get Brother Qiu drunk? Why are you picking medicinal herbs?”

Li Banfeng had fought Qiu Luoye before and even Mister Yao’s liquor couldn’t knock Qiu Luoye out back then.

”Well, Master Qiu drank too much... He really did. He, he...” As the tiger spoke, its voice began to quiver, and it then started crying. ”Master Qi, Master Qiu told me not to tell you. Master Qiu is injured. He can’t even get up anymore. He’s in a cave on the back mountain. He’s dying...”

Li Banfeng was shocked. ”How did he get hurt?”

”I don’t know how he was hurt,” the tiger sobbed. ”The day before yesterday, someone came. Don’t know where he came from. He fought Master Qiu, but he couldn’t beat him, so he ran off. He said he would come back in three days. Master Qiu didn’t take him seriously. Who would have thought that Master Qiu would suddenly be injured today. His entire body was suddenly covered in blood. We don’t know how it happened.”

Li Banfeng sprinted off toward the cave on the back mountain.

Qiu Luoye sat propped against the cave wall with his clothes soaked through with blood. His entire body was stained red.

Seeing Li Banfeng, Qiu Luoye smiled. ”Old Qi, what are you doing here? I nearly forgot that it’s New Year today. You came to get a drink with me?”

”Brother Qiu, who hurt you like this?”

”Someone came from the Inner Provinces. They wanted to make me a slave again. I refused and beat him off. However, he must have contacted the Inner Provinces, and they have probably tampered with the other half of my iron deed.”

”Your deed?”

”The other half of my iron deed in the Inner Provinces.”

Li Banfeng froze. ”Don’t you still have two other deeds? The two from Madam Kinless! They shouldn’t be able to touch you!”

Qiu Luoye sighed. ”I thought the same thing, but I still got hurt. We haven’t figured out what’s up with the deeds yet. That man will come again tomorrow night, and he will bring two helpers. You can’t beat him, so don’t fight him. My other two deeds are also on this mountain. I will have tiger take you to them.

”Dig up those two contracts and take them with you. Find a place to cultivate. When you reach the Cloudborne Layer, don’t go to the Inner Provinces to suffer. Use those two deeds to push yourself further. That’s how Greenwater Beggar did it back in the day.”

”Big Bro, you need to rest and recover. Leave this to me. I will gather people right now...”

”Old Qi!” Qiu Luoye called out and grabbed hold of Li Banfeng. ”We agreed from the start that you would handle the thinking, and I would handle the fighting. You have to live. Live well for me! When you reach the Cloudborne Layer, find those turtleheads and avenge me. This big bro of yours will cheer you up from the underworld!”

Author’s Note:

PS: Qiu Luoye, hang in there!